Chapter 14 - The Wedding and the Painting
Cade and Claire married at Caroline House.
No ballroom.
No cathedral.
No business elite.
Family.
Staff.
Children.
People helped by the center.
The old painting hung behind the ceremony.
Restored.
The summer house colors bright again.
Cade looked at his twelve-year-old painted self.
Then at Serena.
“You know this thing nearly got you killed.”
“It also got you back.”
Fair.
Lena served as maid of honor assistant because she invented the position.
Mara handled rings.
Rose made the cake.
Ethan attended.
Serena sat beside him.
Their hands touched once.
Did not move apart.
During vows, Cade looked at Claire.
“My family taught me a lot about inheritance.”
Everyone quieted.
“I inherited money.”
A pause.
“A name.”
Another.
“Fear.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“But the best things I have now weren’t inherited.”
He looked at Serena.
“They were repaired.”
At the girls.
“Chosen.”
At Claire.
“And earned.”
Claire whispered, “That was annoyingly good.”
He smiled.
They married.
Afterward, Mara found Cade alone near the painting.
“What are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“Dangerous.”
He laughed.
“You sound like Serena.”
“Good.”
She looked at the painting.
“We almost sold it for twenty dollars.”
Cade stared.
“Twenty?”
“Maybe thirty.”
“My entire life was hidden behind that frame.”
“We were hungry.”
That simple truth remained.
Cade knelt.
“You will never have to sell something you love for food again.”
Mara frowned.
“Neither should other kids.”
He stopped.
She was right.
May you like
Again.
That sentence inspired what came next.
